ViewRanger is popular among outdoorsy people for its hiking trails and off-road topographical maps from different sources and known publishers. The fact that you can track and create your own trails, navigate using an Android Wear watch, and keep all your maps offline for use when away from a signal is more than just one big plus. And now there's a new cool feature for ViewRanger users: Skyline.

Skyline is an augmented reality map layer inside the ViewRanger app. It transforms your camera view into a lively map, pointing out the peaks, cliffs, lakes, glaciers, towns, villages, mountain passes, and other known places as you pan around your environment.

Something weird happened to me on Sunday. I was driving to my friend's house with Google Maps, but my navigation interface was screwed up. Only the big roads were showing, without any street or highway names, nor any other details. I was on 9.42.3 and in the beta channel so I just attributed it to that.

But today, after getting the new 9.42.3 Maps installed on the Pixel XL (note it's the same version number), and noticing it didn't fix it, I decided to delete app data. When trying again, I got a new interface:

Left: current interface, Center: new interface, Right: after expanding "more"

Tapping on the ETA bar will bring up a menu where another tap gets you search, alternate routes, directions, and a shortcut to navigation settings.

I am certainly not the first to say it, but I do not like the bottom navigation bar thing. Perhaps because I have been trained to like the slide-out navigation in my years of using Android. Who knows. Regardless, it is a trend and we are seeing more apps toying with the idea. A few months ago, the Spotify beta app introduced this change. You had five tabs with which to navigate and that was that.

Driving is serious business—you're in control of a rolling pile of metal and glass weighing thousands of pounds, and one moment of inattention can have very messy consequences. So, for goodness' sake, don't screw around with your phone while driving. Google Maps has voice commands while in navigation or driving mode to help you keep your hands off the phone, and today there are a lot more available.

There are some missing features in Android and some of Google's apps that are simply incomprehensible. Speed limits are one of them. In countries where speed limits are enforceable by the law and mandatory to respect (ie not here in Lebanon), it's quite unfathomable to me that you would be using a routing and navigation app that didn't show you the speed limit of each road you were taking so you could drive safely and lawfully.

Out of the entire list of apps in Google's lineup, Maps is probably the most consistent about delivering new and interesting features with almost every release. Version 9.35 began rolling out to users signed up to the beta channel yesterday and it's no slouch. Regular drivers can look forward to a new screen to welcome them when they arrive at their destinations, and dropped pins now contain Plus Codes so it's extremely easy to convey fairly precise locations to people through text, IM, and even over the phone. Moving over to a teardown shows that speed limits and current speed are going to be shown during navigation.

After adding an entirely new section on motion - and new guidance on onboarding and growth - back in May, Google Design is back with another update to the material design spec.

The August 2016 release includes new documentation for Nougat's new notifications, confirming and acknowledging user actions, and widgets, with updates coming to the navigation and full-screen mode sections.

Nougat's notifications, as we've seen through a handful of preview releases now, have a somewhat more complex or info-rich design compared to previous generations. In its new section on notifications, the spec breaks down all the bits and pieces from headers to action areas.

Bottom nav bars. Between the time of Gingerbread and Marshmallow, they seemed to become significantly less prevalent on Android (or maybe I was just able to avoid more of them), with many developers and designers going for other navigation models. But those other nav models - specifically the hamburger menu - aren't always ideal. Often, teams worry that items in the drawer are "hidden" from users. Sometimes immediate visibility and total obscurity seem like the only two realistic options.

To be fair, it's true that ensuring users see these options each and every time they open the app tends to increase usage. And while the situation isn't so dire, it makes sense to have official guidance on popular navigation patterns.

What you're looking at above could well be the appearance of the navigation bar in Android N on Google's next Nexus phones, Marlin and Sailfish, when they launch - and possibly all devices using the stock navbar in Android N. According to a reliable source, Google's newest Nexuses may be getting a navbar do-over, but it remains unclear at this time if the new design we're seeing here will be available to all devices running N or only Google's in-house Nexus brand. A closer look follows.

Disclaimer: No matter the confidence level, there's always a chance product updates, features, and some or all details will be changed or cancelled altogether.

Waze is owned by Google these days, but the way it handles navigation is quite different from the Maps app. For example, users can report accidents, speed traps, and other road conditions that affect the directions given to other Wazers. Today, the app is adding yet another quirky and potentially very useful routing feature. Users in LA will be able to get directions that help them avoid "difficult intersections."